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Community member says 2020 redistricting failed to boost utilization, cites higher transportation costs
Summary
A public commenter at the May 20 Howard County Board of Education meeting urged the board to reexamine the 2020 boundary changes, presenting analysis that underutilized schools did not gain expected enrollment and that transportation costs rose significantly.
At the Board of Education meeting on May 20, community member Michael Trevino asked the board to review the Centennial and Wilde Lake boundary changes enacted after the 2020 redistricting, saying post-redistricting outcomes did not match projections.
Trevino said he conducted his own analysis and presented slides in the public record showing that several underutilized schools did not reach their targeted enrollment after redistricting. "Redistricting does not improve utilization at underutilized schools," he told the board.
Using Longfellow Elementary School as an example, Trevino said the school was at about 82% capacity in 2019, was projected to reach 100% after redistricting, but is now at about 77%. He also said a projected gain of 84 students ended with a net loss of 24 students.
Trevino raised transportation costs as a major budget consequence. He told the board Howard County student transportation cost per student now exceeds neighboring counties and is growing at about a 10% annual rate. "If we kind of paid on par with everyone else, would that be roughly $10,000,000 savings," he said, attributing the figure to his analysis.
Trevino said the data and slides he discussed are included in the public documents for the meeting. The board did not take action during public forum on the points he raised.
